On This Day - What Happened On October 10 | Britannica

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1845 Founding of the U.S. Naval Academy To improve the then-unsatisfactory methods of instructing midshipmen, George Bancroft—historian, educator, and secretary of the navy—founded the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, on this day in 1845. © Joseph Sohm/Shutterstock.com

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Giuseppe Verdi Italian composer bornOctober 9, 1813 or October 10, 1813Le Roncole, ItalydiedJanuary 27, 1901Milan, Italy© Juulijs/Fotolia 1969 Brett Favre American football player 1950 Nora Roberts American novelist 1930 Harold Pinter British dramatist 1917 Thelonious Monk American musician 1906 R.K. Narayan Indian author See All Biographies On This Day

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2010 The Netherlands Antilles—formerly an autonomous part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of a group of five islands in the Caribbean Sea—was officially dissolved. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about the CaribbeanEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 1985 American filmmaker Orson Welles—who notably wrote, directed, produced, and acted in Citizen Kane (1941), one of the most influential films of all time—died at age 70. Test your knowledge of cinemaRKO Radio Pictures Inc. 1979 Canadian hockey player Wayne Gretzky made his NHL debut, with the Edmonton Oilers. How much do you know about hockey?© Jerry Coli/Dreamstime.com 1973 Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigned from office and pleaded no contest to the charge of failing to report $29,500 in income while governor of Maryland. Take our quiz about U.S. political scandalsHulton Archive/Getty Images 1970 Fiji gained independence from Great Britain. Take our islands and archipelagos quizEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 1969 American gridiron football player Brett Favre, who broke all the major NFL career passing records as quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, was born. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about American footballPRNewsFoto/Sports Illustrated/AP Images 1963 The British spy film From Russia with Love premiered in London; the second film in the James Bond franchise, it is considered one of the best in the series. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about films© 1963 United Artists Corporation; photograph from a private collection 1956 The American classic Giant had its world premiere; the saga was especially notable for being the last movie of James Dean, who died in a car accident shortly after filming was completed. Test your knowledge of A-list actors© 1956 Giant Productions, courtesy of Warner Bros.; photograph, Culver Pictures 1935 George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess opened on Broadway. Take our quiz about opera© Renato Toppo/Getty Images 1917 American pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, among the first creators of modern jazz, was born. Test your knowledge of musicArchive Photos 1911 A group of revolutionaries launched an uprising in Wuchang, China, which many regard as the formal beginning of the Chinese Revolution, a nationalist democratic revolt that overthrew the Qing dynasty. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about China 1846 English astronomer William Lassell discovered Triton, the largest satellite of the planet Neptune. How much do you know about the planets of the solar system?NASA/JPL SIGN UP FOR History's Biggest Headlines Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors. SIGN UP Thanks for signing up for Today in History. Your first newsletter will arrive soon! SIGN UP By clicking "Sign Up" you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.